Chap. I. 
they could not be brought, by any means, fo much as to 
hear of that Propofai : Yet this unlucky Precaution of 
theirs, which hindered them from viewing thefe Iflands, 
was built upon a falfe Foundation, fince, as they afterwards 
difcovered to their Coft, they were two Months too early, 
inftead of two Months too late, for that Trade-wind, in 
hopes of meeting with which, they had abandoned a Dis- 
covery, that would, in all human Probability, have amply 
rewarded their pad Pains and Labour*, and, which was '’frill 
worfe, by this indifereet and hafty Departure, they facri- 
ficed the Health and Strength ol their Crew to fuch a De- 
gree, that they found themfelves fo weakened, as to be 
fcarce in a Condition to navigate their Ships ; which once 
put them on thinking of a very defperate and dangerous 
Expedient, viz. that of burning one Veffel, in order, with 
lefs Difficulty, to manage the other. All fuch Inconveni- 
encies had been avoided, if, embracing this Opportunity, 
offered them by the Favour of Divine Providence, they had 
been content to fray in a Place of Safety, Plenty, and Plea- 
jfure, till their fick People had recovered, inftead of wilfully 
Seeking new Dangers, with which they were fo little able 
to encounter. 
17. Weighing from Bowmans IJlands, they continued 
their Courfe towards the North-weft, which gained them, 
the next Morning, the Sight of two Iflands *, which they 
took to be the Ifland of Cocos , and 'Traitors JJland , fo called 
by William Schovten , by whom they were difcovered. Cap- 
tain Bowman would very willingly have approached them 
more nearly *, but the Commodore would not permit him. 
The IOand of Cocos , at the Diftance they faw it, feemed 
very high Land, and about eight Leagues in Compafs. 
The other appeared to be much lower, the Soil red, and 
without Trees. This laft Hand, they believed, lay in the 
Latitude of 1 1° South ; but our Author ingenuoufly owns, 
that they failed at too great a Diftance to be able to give 
any good Account of them. They foon alter law two other 
Iflands of very large Extent, one of which they called Tien - 
hoven , and the other Groninguen *, which laft, many of 
their Officers were clearly of Opinion, was no Ifland, but 
the great South Continent they were lent to difeover; with 
refpebt to which, however, our Author fufpends his Judg- 
ment, becaufe the Proofs on neither Side feemed to him 
convincing. As for the Ifland of Tienhoven , it appeared to 
be a rich and beautiful Country, moderately high, the Mea- 
dows exceedingly green, and within-land adorned with 
Trees. They coafted along the Shore for a whole Day, 
without comingto the End of it. They obferved, however, 
that it extended in the Form of a Semicircle towards the 
Ifland of Groninguen *, fo that, after all, it is very probable, 
that thefe two Countries, that were at firft taken for Iflands, 
may, in Reality, be Lands contiguous to each other, and 
both of them Parts of the Terra Auftralis incognita ; Yet 
our Author acknowledges they found, in that Neighbour- 
hood, Iflands of 1 50 Miles in Circumference *, which agrees 
very well with the Account given by Dampier , who affirms, 
that he found a Streight between New Guiney and New Bri- 
tain ; and, if fo, this muft be confidered as an Ifland. A 
great Part of the Company were for anchoring on the Coaft, 
and making a Defcent; but that was now become a very 
difagreeable Motion ^ and, to be rid of it the more eafily at 
prefent, the Officers, who were fo fond of going to the 
Eajl Indies, fuggefted, that it muft, at this time, be at- 
tended with great Danger, fince, if the Party landing was 
cut off, they fhould not then have Men enough left to carry 
their Ships home. 
They were obliged therefore to continue their Courfe, 
how difagreeable foever that Meafure might be to the Ma- 
jority of the Company, who, as they came out to make 
Difcoveries, were unwilling to go home with imperfed Sto- 
ries. It. was not now doubted but that they fhould very 
foon fee the Coafts of New Guiney, or of New Britain ; 
but, after failing for many Days without feeing any Land 
at all, they began to be fatisfied of the V anity of thefe Cal- 
culations *, but, at the fame time, could not help murmur- 
ing a little at their Effects, which were very dreadful, fince 
the Scurvy began to carry off three, four or five of their beft 
Hands every Day : So that, though they had already re- 
duced three Ships Companies, to two, they more than once 
deliberated, whether it might not be expedient to burn one 
Numb, 19. 
273 
of the remaining Veflfels j and the only Argument that re- 
ftrained them from doing it was, that, in cafe any Accident 
befel one, there was ftili a Poffibility left of efcaping with 
the other. There cannot be any thing more terrible than 
the Account our Author gives of the Miferies they endured j 
but, at the fame time, it is too curious, and tod important, 
to be omitted. 
At this time, fays he, there was nothing to be feen on 
board but Tick People, ftruggling with inexpreffible Pains, 
and dead Carcafes, that were juft releafed from them, and 
from which arofe fo intolerable a Smell, that fuch as yet 
remained found were not able to endure, but frequently 
fwooned with it. Cries and Groans were perpetually ring- 
ing in their Ears ; and the very .Sight of the People move- 
ing about was fufficient to excite at once Terror and Com- 
panion *, for fome of them were fuch perfect Skeletons, that 
their Skins feemed to cleave to their Bones, in which fad 
Circumftances they had this Confolation, that they felt no 
Pain, but confumed and extinguished like the Snuff of a 
Candle. Others, again, were fwelled and puffed up to a 
monftrous Size, and were tormented with fuch violent 
Pains, as threw them frequently into a furious kind of Mad- 
ntfs. Others were worn away by the Dyfentery, and 
bloody Stools, while many differed the molt excruciating 
Pains from the Rheumatifm *, and others dragged their 
dead Limbs after them, the Feeling of which had been 
taken away by the Pally. To all thefe Dileafes of the Body, 
there were like wile added many Diftempers of the Mind : 
An Anabaptift of about twenty-five Years old cried, with- 
out ceafing, lor twenty-four Hours before he died. Baptize 
me l baptize me ! When the Captain was told of it, he an- 
fwered in a very quick Tone, If he had a mind to have pa (fed 
through that Ceremony, he fhould have thought of it before he 
embarked', adding with a Sneer, The Bellow knows well 
enough we have no Parfons here. When the poor Man was 
told this, he remained quiet, and died with great Refigna- 
tion. There were two Papifts on board, the one a French , 
the other a Dutchman, who gave what little Money they 
had to their Friends, befeeching them, that, if ever they 
returned to Holland, they would lay it out in procuring a 
certain Number of Ma fifes to be faid for the Repofe of their 
Souls, to the Honour of St. Anthony of Padua. But they 
were not all of fo religious a Difpofition *, on the con- 
trary, many of them would not hear any thing that had the 
leait Savour of Religion, for fome time before they expired. 
Our Author allures us, that he faw fome, who neither eat 
nor drank for four-and-twenty Days before they died ; and 
fome, again, were carried off fo fuddenly, that, in the midft 
of their Difcourfe, they flopped fhort, and were found to 
be dead. All theft different Kinds of Sickneffes our Au- 
thor attributes chiefly to their bad Provifions, their fait 
Meats being corrupted, their Bread full of Maggots, and 
their Water flunking to. an intolerable Degree. In fuch Cir- 
cumftances as thefe, Medicines, at the moft, could only de- 
fer Death, but could never work a Cure. The only effectual 
Remedy was fre fh Meat, Herbs, and Water. Even fuch as 
were reputed in Health were low, weak, and much affiifted 
w r ith the Scurvy. Our Author tells us, that tho* he was 
as well as any body, yet he had the Scurvy to fuch a de- 
gree, that his Teeth were all loofe, his Gums torn and 
inflamed, and his Body covered with Spots of different 
Colours. At laft, however, it pleafed God to put a Period 
to their Miferies, by giving them a Sight of the Coaft of 
New Britain , the Joy of which filled their Sick with new 
Spirits, and encouraged fuch as were able to move, to hope 
they might yet return to their native Country ; whereas, if 
they had been obliged to continue many Days longer at Sea, 
they muft certainly have perifhed, as well through Defpair, 
as through the many Miferies they fuffered, of which tho ? 
he has given us a long and melancholy Account, he yet 
allures us, that it is but a faint Defcription, and falls very 
far fhort in exprefling the manifold Diftrefifes to which they 
were expoftd. 
18. The Country of New Britain, as well as the reft of 
the Iflands in its Neighbourhood, is very high Land, many 
of the Mountains hiding themfelves in the Clouds j but, for 
the Sea-coafts, they are equally fertile and pleafant, the Mea- 
dows wearing a perpetual Verdure, and the Hills being co- 
vered with various Sorts of Fruit-trees. It lies in the Lati- 
4 A twdg 
Commodore RoggeWein. 
